Carpentry has always been a passion of mine and although I love the emails from viewers I haven't received many questions about the things I have created on the show. I have always wanted to share my knowledge about carpentry so I created this blog as an interactive tool for people who have questions regarding the show, personal projects or general D. I. Y. inquiries.
If you have any questions or comments about the projects in the shows I have been on, feel free to ask me about how I structurally designed them, what materials I used and the techniques that went into making them.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anonymous said...
Hi Thad:
There are a number of things you built that I like, but one of the things I'm curious about is the countertop you put in the fireman's kitchen. It was out of stone and looked like it was not pieced together so how did you make the hole to put the sink in? Also, what did you use to cut it to the size you wanted? I have a small slab of granite I want to make into a table top and I'd like a hole in it for my lamp cord.Love watching you on the show. Keep up the good work!
Ann
Thad Mills said...
Ann,
The counter top that Nancy had me make on that episode is made out of Quartz. It’s a less expensive stone, but still gives the expensive look that granite would. She was able to get a really good deal on it by buying it in a slab instead of a precut piece. The tricky part is if you have to cut it yourself. I used a wet skill saw that I bought at Home Depot specifically for that job. It looks like a regular skill saw that you cut 2X4s with, but it uses a diamond blade that cuts solid stone and a special water hose attachment that came with the saw. The water sprays right on the blade as you cut; it keeps the blade both cool and lubricated so that the stone chips less. The slab was not strait to start with so I had to set up a strait edge to guide my saw. Since the hole for the sink was in the middle of the slab, I had to use a grinding wheel (commonly referred to as a die grinder) with a 1/8th of an inch disk to plunge cut the hole out.
You can buy a special bit that will drill out a perfect circle in your piece of granite for all your cords to go through. The drill pieces might get expensive, but since you are cutting a nice stone like granite, you will want to make the investment. If you don’t have a drill, or don’t want to spend the money on a diamond core bit, you could try calling a fabrication shop that has the special equipment to do it.
Bowen said...
Just watched your episode with the two stuntmen. Awesome. I wished they had shown how you built the bed out of the bowling lane. Do you have to do something special when ripping a piece that is a composite of other boards like that? What about all that polymer or resin on it? Does that require a special saw blade? Oh, and what's with the palm nailer? Are your arms wearing out already? Hollywood making you soft?
January 10, 2009 10:14 AM
Thad Mills said...
Bowen,
The bowling lane had the hardest finish I have ever removed. After three chemical strips and a lot of sanding using a very heavy 60 grit, then I worked my way up to 150 to finish the process. It was then ready to cut, but the problem was the lane was made up of 2 inch strips of wood nailed about every 10 inches together, so I knew I was going to hit a nail while I was cutting it. I picked up a couple of 40 tooth saw blades, knowing that I was going to be burning through them very fast. Goggles, a face shield, and long sleeves where a must when doing this because I was cutting through nails through out the whole process. Once I had my long strips for the bed frame, I cut a 45-degree miter joint on the ends where they would meet to form a big box. I attached the pieces together with metal L brackets so that if the homeowner wanted to disassemble it later he could. I then ran a couple of 2X6 across the inside of the frame to support the mattress using 2x6 joist hangers to help support the lumber.
The palm nailer is a handy tool that wood framers use to drive long nails into lumber. It’s more efficient than a hammer, and puts less strain on your arm, if you have a lot of nails to drive
